The Fields Medals 2022: Maryna Viazovska | plus.maths.org

Maryna Viazovska, a mathematician at the EPFL in Switzerland, has won one of this year's Fields Medals at the International Congress of Mathematicians. The Fields Medal is one of the most prestigious prizes in mathematics. It is awarded every four years "to recognise outstanding mathematical achievement for existing work and for the promise of future achievement". Up to four mathematicians up to the age of 40 are awarded a Fields Medal each time.

Viazovska is only the second woman to receive a Fields Medal, following on from Maryam Mirzakhani who won it in 2014. She was awarded the prize for a ground-breaking proof that relates to a problem we're all familiar with from everyday life, and some beautiful mathematics related to similar kinds of problem.

When it comes to transportation fruit are awkward. Not only are they easily squashed, they also have shapes that don't lend themselves to being packed in boxes. Even the simplest possible fruit shape, the sphere as seen in oranges and apples, causes a problem, because no matter how you pack spheres, there'll always be gaps between them. This raises a geometric question: how should you arrange spheres into a box to make sure you can fit in as many as possible? What's the biggest proportion of space you can fill with oranges?

Leave a Comment